Is LaGrave Field history? Here’s what we know about the 23-year-old stadium’s future

The fate of LaGrave Field’s grandstand will be a topic of discussion when the Tarrant Regional Water District Board meets again in June.

A consultant report on the future of Panther Island has recommended knocking down the abandoned stadium north of downtown. The property could be converted into another use that still incorporates baseball, but trying to rehabilitate the 23-year-old stadium would be too expensive, the report said.

Board member James Hill called for the June agenda item to begin the discussion of what to do with LaGrave Field. The district needs to hear from the public before deciding how to move forward, he said.

The water district is also looking for a real estate consultant to advise the board on what to do with the roughly 347 acres it owns on Panther Island. Some of that land will be used for the 1.5 mile channel connecting two sections of the Trinity River.

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The 23-year-old stadium on the norther edge of the future Panther Island has fallen into disrepair after sitting empty for nearly a decade. There were attempts to revitalize the stadium in 2018, but those efforts fell through in 2020.

The water district pays $195,000 a year on security and maintenance for the stadium.

The Fort Worth Cats started playing at the original LaGrave Field in 1926 first as an independent team and eventually as a part of the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system. Baseball legends like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig all took their turns gracing the base paths during the Cats’ nearly 40-year stint in Fort Worth.

The current stadium was built in 2001 with a new version of the Fort Worth Cats making it their home from 2002 to 2014.